This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure that are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Device pairing is an operation that enables to set up a connection between two remote devices that is used to share data or services between the then paired devices while preventing other devices (not paired) to access the data or services. The prior art comprises a number of different solutions for device pairing. Conventional solutions are based on challenge-response mechanisms requiring a bidirectional transmission channel (such as WiFi or Bluetooth™) to send and receive messages. When one of the devices accesses sensitive or valuable services such as a pay-TV channel or user personal data files, a secure pairing between legitimate devices is preferred, allowing to prevent an unauthorized user with an unauthorized device to access the service. For example, when pairing a smartphone with a Bluetooth car audio system, a secret code is generated by the car audio system, displayed to the user and needs to be entered on the smartphone. The smartphone sends back the code through the Bluetooth communication and the car audio system verifies that the secret code is correct before authorizing the secure pairing. The secret code can advantageously be used to encrypt the communication between the devices. Conventional replay-preventing mechanisms can also be used.
In pay-TV systems, some operators propose multi-device subscription for a discounted price compared to multiple subscriptions, therefore allowing to share a subscription between multiple receiver devices of a same household. In this situation, a multi-device subscriber may be tempted to sell one of his devices to another customer, therefore reducing his personal cost. However such usage is generally not authorized by the terms of service of the provider since it would lower the overall income of the provider. To fight against such illegitimate usage of the devices, the secure device pairing mechanism needs to be improved to prevent attacks where the device to be paired are too far away from each other and where the legitimate user collaborates with the illegitimate user.
It can therefore be appreciated that there is a need for a solution for secure device pairing that addresses at least some of the problems of the prior art. The present disclosure provides such a solution.